Various post seems that the Z-Wave dongle is working well and while the dongle lights up correct (and which I verified with Aeotec), there is no option to add Z-Wave devices.

I am using a US version of the Z-Stick while using the Almond 3S in Japan. I am not sure whether the Almond is doing some checks and blocking the dongle. When I set up the Almond 3S, I did indicate the region is the United States.

One the Almond 3 and Almond 3S it does not show the Z-Wave as a separate option. Once you have that text at the bottom of the screen, the dongle was recognized and is working.

You should be able to use the normal Add button to add in a Z-Wave device now. If a simple device is not being recognized (not sure what you are trying to add) the device may need to be reset (did you have it previously paired with another controller)?

Let me know what type (preferably make and model) of Z-Wave device you are adding if you could. That might help.

Not directly related to this topic, but very curious if someone knows the answer.

Coming from the Almond+, it was Z-Wave certified and its conformance statement listed the command classes supported and controlled by the Almond+. The Almond 3/3S are not Z-Wave certified and use a dongle instead. A dongle is mostly a Z-Wave chip connected to USB. My understanding is that the z-wave gateway logic should still be in the Almond. If that is the case, how do we know what the controlled/supported command classes of the Almond 3/3S are?

If you look at the conformance statement for both products, you can see that the devices to not list any controlled or supported command classes. It is up to the Z-Wave controller as to which command classes are supported; in this case the Almond 3 and Almond 3S. The Almond Plus has a built-in z-wave chip and been certified by the z-wave alliance and its conformance statement lists the command classes. While theoretically, the combination of Almond 3S and z-wave dongle could go through the certification process, this seems not to be the case.

Yes, the Almond does support command classes and I suspect at a minimum the command classes supported by the Almond Plus, but it is very well possible that they support more command classes and newer versions of the command classes.